Work continues on the restoration of the Lyric Theatre in downtown Birmingham, Alabama,18th Street and 3rd Avenue North. Plywood is being installed.(The Birmingham News Photo Linda Stelter)

The story of how supporters of Birmingham's historic Lyric
Theatre got the idea to host the first concert in the theatre's auditorium in
decades begins like all good things do: with a woman playing squeezebox outside
a theatre during Sidewalk Film Festival.

"There was a girl standing on the corner playing an
accordion," Don Lupo, Director of the Mayor's Office of Citizen Assistance,
said. Brant Beene, the general manager of the Alabama Theatre, invited the
accordionist, Carrie Hill, inside to play on the Lyric Theatre's nearly
90-year-old stage.

"It just filled the entire place up with magical music, and
Don heard it," Beene said.

"I could not believe how good I sounded," Hill said in an
interview. "I normally do not sound that great, but the acoustics in the Lyric
made me want to play for hours. It was just beautiful."

Lupo loved it.

"I said, 'Man, this is fabulous, it sounds like there are
speakers in the wall. The acoustics are perfect! Why don't we start having concerts
here and raise some money?'"

"I said, 'Don, you can make that happen, I can't.'" Beene
said.

Lupo helped Lyric supporters connect with Birmingham's fire marshal
and other officials who could tell them what was necessary to host a concert
for 200 guests in the Lyric. Soon enough, Birmingham trombonist Chad Fisher and
his jazz ensemble, the Chad Fisher Group, were signed on to play what Lyric
Theatre Volunteer Coordinator Glenny Brock bills as "first concert at the Lyric
in the 21st century," on Friday at 7 p.m.

Fisher's group is perfect for the gig: they've been learning
and playing 1930s-era jazz, including numbers by Count Basie, Duke Ellington
and Benny Goodman.

"So it's completely acoustic," Fisher said. "Of course, with
the Lyric, that fits like a glove."

It fits because of the era and genre of Fisher's music and
because the Lyric was designed for live performance, but an acoustic band also
fits because, as Brock said, "there's not enough juice running through the
place to support a lot of amps right now."

Tickets to the show are $20, and all proceeds go to restore
the Lyric. Note: Tickets are now sold out. That project, according to Brock, could be rather expensive - "Renovating
and restoring the entire theatre and the adjacent six-story office building
will cost around $14 million," Brock said - but renovating the lobby as a proof-of-concept
will only cost around $250,000.

The floor of the auditorium will be covered in new plywood, according
to Brock, and guests will need to bring their own chairs as there are none on
the ground floor. No one will be allowed in the balconies. There will also be
port-a-johns provided--Brock said the lack of toilets has been one obstacle to
having a show of any kind at the Lyric.

Built in 1914, the 1,583-seat Lyric Theatre hosted
Vaudeville acts until the early 1930s, when it was transformed into a movie
theatre. It operated on and off until the early 1980s.
"Part of the point is for people to see it in its ruined splendor and imagine
what it could look like if restored," Brock said.

If the show is successful, then concerts at the Lyric could
become a regular thing, Beene said.